Intel Roadmap Update Intel's latest roadmap update reveal an ongoing process of price cuts through to 27 May, driving down the cost of adopting the Pentium 4 and squeezing the last few drops out of the PIII.

On 4 March, Intel will trim P4 prices in preparation for the 15 April launch of 1.7GHz part, at which point prices will go down again. The 1.7GHz part will come in at $776.

On the same day, the 1.5GHz P4 will fall to $562 (and not $594, as originally planned) from 4 March's new price of $637 (it's now at $644). The 1.4GHz part will hit $375 from $423 (4 March price), and the 1.3GHz chip will go to $268 (previously $316) from $332 on 4 March (previously $375).

On the 27 May, the 1.7GHz P4 will drop to $669, the 1.5GHz to $455, the 1.4GHz to $316 and the 1.3GHz part to a new price of $241 (previous pricing plans had it marked up at $268).

That change makes room for the 1.13GHz Pentium III, which will be introduced on 15 April at $268, the price the 1GHz PIII ships for today, so clearly Intel really wants OEMs to buy 1.3GHz P4s instead. The 1.13GHz PIII will retain that price past the cuts of 27 May, but the 1GHz version will drop to $193, coming down from $225 (15 April) and $241 (4 March).

Tualatin-based PIIIs aren't due until July, but Intel is already saying they will be priced above Coppermine PIIIs and indeed some bottom-end P4s. Full pricing will be announced in March. Server-oriented Toilet-ins will be priced higher than their desktop equivalents, surprise, surprise.